We Work With Weird
by MelodyPond123
Summary: When an accident with an artifact has unintended consequences, Claudia finds herself in new territory.
1. Chapter 1

"Aw, man!" Claudia exclaimed, making a face as the glass vessel fell from the shelf, shattering, her lunge to grab it mere instants too late.

A moment of eerie silence lulled her into complacency. Whew, that was close, she thought.

Then an explosion ripped through the air, wind whipping past her hair. Darkness, punctuated with blinding flashes of lights swirled in her vision. She covered her face with her arms as a sensation of acceleration jolted her body.

She felt something skid underneath her, friction burning through her jeans, the scratch of something gritty beneath her body. She peeled her eyes open, choking on dust that billowed in dazzling rays of sunlight that filtered down.

"Hey!" A voice shouted, accompanied by pounding footsteps.

"Wow, that was gnarly," Claudia muttered to herself, standing from where she had come to lie on the ground. As her eyes adjusted, she saw she was outdoors, in some sort of park—with a woman running toward her.

"I saw the flash! How did you get here?"

"Not exactly sure."

"What do you mean, you're not sure? You just like, friggin teleported here."

"No, I've teleported before. This wasn't quite like that."

"You've teleported before. What are you, some kind of Wessen?" The other woman reached surreptitiously into her jacket.

"A what? I've seen of a lot of crazy stuff, but not of anything called 'vessa'."

The woman suddenly jumped forwards, something metallic flashing in her hand.

"Whoah! What are you doing?" Claudia skittered backwards, alarm filling her voice.

"OK, you're definitely not a Wessen." The woman shook her head with a relieved look, putting away what Claudia could now see was a large knife.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's complicated. Sorry about that. I had to make sure. Weird stuff usually doesn't mean anything good for people like me."

"People like you? What kind of weird? I work with weird, so maybe I can help."

"You work with weird? Are you a Grimm?" Trubel asked, looking at her strangely.

"A what? No. I work for, well, I can't really tell you. But I'm kind of like a real-life Agent Mulder." Claudia explained.

"Really?" Her voice was tinted with disbelief.

"Yeah, look." Claudia pulled out her badge.

"Secret Service? So why would a Secret Service agent teleport out here?" Trubel questioned, shrugging.

"Nope, wasn't teleportation. This was something different. By the way, where is 'here', exactly?" Claudia queried,

"Portland."

"Holy interdimensional travel, Batman! That's a long way from South Dakota!" Claudia laughed.

"You just got here from South Dakota?" Trubel tilted her head as she asked, curiosity showing in her face.

"Yeah, I'm about as confused as you are. I need to call my boss."

"Lemme guess, he's in South Dakota."

"I hope so. I hope it didn't them too." Claudia said, reaching in her pocket.

"Them being?" Trubel prompted.

"My coworkers. Never know with the stuff we deal with, just what will happen."

Claudia pulled out her Farnsworth, earning a strange look from her companion.

"What is that?" Trubel's voice was tinged with curiosity.

"A really old version of FaceTime." Claudia explained, scrambling for a way to make it make sense.

"What, your agency can't afford smartphones?" Trubel snarked.

"No, this is just more reliable." She shook her head.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Claudia replied, thumbing the dials. She only met static.

"Looks like stone age FaceTime isn't so great after all." Trubel said, crossing her arms as she smiled in amusement.

"No, something's not right. They never fail."

"Why don't you try a real phone?" Trubel asked, putting her hands in her pockets.

"I don't have mine. I left it in the office." Claudia sighed, shaking her head.

"Fine. Use mine." Trubel produced hers.

"Thanks. By the way, I didn't get your name."

"Folks call me Trubel." She said, handing the phone to Claudia.

"Trubel? Good to meet ya. I'm Claudia." She smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

Claudia punched in the number to Artie's cell.

Instead of ringing, an electronic voice came on the line, saying "I'm sorry, the number you've dialed is not in service. Please check the number and try your call again."

"OoohKay," Claudia said, making a face as she lowered the phone from her ear.

"No luck?" Trubel asked, making a face.

"No, no luck. I'm gonna try someone else." Claudia shrugged.

She entered Steve's number.

"Hello?" A woman's voice answered.

"Hey, who's this? I need to talk to Steve."

"This is Monica. No Steve here." The woman on the other end hung up.

"No, no, that can't be," Claudia shook her head.

"What's going on?" Trubel asked, looking at the horizon.

"It's just—" she punched in Pete's number. "—this isn't possible."

Trubel smirked. "There's plenty of that around."

"Don't I know it." As if this isn't weird enough….

She scoffed as another automated error signal played.

"Sure you're dialing right?"

'Yeah, just one more."

Myka's number…someone had to answer…

It rang once, then popped to voicemail. She groaned as the recording played. "Hey, it's Johanathan, leave me a message."

"No, no, no!" Claudia grimaced, punctuating her words by clawing the air with her free hand.

"So what's going on?"

"It looks like my coworkers don't have the same numbers here. Wherever, uh, here, is."

"Portland."

"Yeah, yeah, but like, this….world."

"This _world_?"

"Yeah, I think, _maybe_ I'm in, a parallel….parallel universe."

"Well, I think you should come with me." Trubel said, motioning up the path.

"No, I really—" Claudia began, crossing her arms as she thought as she trailed off.

"Look, it's gonna be dark soon, and besides, I know somebody who might be able to help." Trubel said.

"Really?" Claudia's face fell as she looked to the sky, seeing the setting sun, indecision showing in her voice.

"Yeah. You're not the only one that deals with weird, Agent Mulder." Trubel proclaimed.

"So what would you be, then? If you deal with weird." Claudia asked, her expression now conveying curiosity.

"Uh…kind of…like…a vampire slayer, I guess." Trubel muttered, making a face as she settled on what she seemed to find a goofy way of saying it, judging by her tone.

Claudia laughed. "Seriously? How long has that been going on?"

"Longer than I want to remember." She rolled her eyes in an amused way.


	3. Chapter 3

"Same here. Weird kind of took over when I was a kid." Claudia said, smiling wanly.

"Yeah. So, you coming?" Trubel asked again, taking a few steps toward the parking lot, which Claudia could see in the distance.

"I guess so." She nodded.

They left the park, heading toward the parking lot where Trubel motioned for her to get in a car.

"Nice! Yours?" Claudia said as they climbed in.

"No. Borrowing it. It's the folks' I'm staying with."

"Oh, ok."

"Yeah, it's kind of a uh, interesting situation." Trubel replied, backing up from the parking spot.

"So…tell me a title more about this Grimm thing?" Claudia prompted.

"Yeah, so we're like, god this is gonna be awful, but we're kind of like real life vampire slayers, only, uh, only we can see the monsters."

"Really?"

"Seriously, you're not getting ready to jump out of the car screaming 'look out crazy coming through'? Because…that's sort of what most people do when you tell them this sort of thing." Trubel said, almost cringing.

"No, I'm kinda used to this…sort of thing, like you said. I mean, I've never heard of this, but come on, I do stuff most people would never believe either. And, believe me, they've called me crazy too. Except I wasn't, and Josh is back…"

"Josh?" Trubel asked.

"My brother. He…well, see he disappeared. And everybody, everybody thought I was insane saying that he was in another universe, but he was!" Claudia explained, turning to watch the landscape roll by.

"Another universe?"

"Yeah, like I was saying, I'm not from here either. And in my line of work, parallel universes aren't exactly unheard of."

"Well, that's kind of nice to hear. I mean, you're the first person I've actually told who…yeah."

"And, well I don't really go around spouting that story either. Normally, I shouldn't be telling you this, but Im pretty sure we normally live on separate sides of the space-time continuum, so….I think Ms. F will forgive me this once."

"Who's Ms. F?"

"My boss's boss. I work in…and get ready, this really is kinda crazy—"

"Crazier than what I just told you?! I had to make a corny TV reference!" Trubel laughed.

"Yeah, trust me. I work for a Warehouse that collects dangerous supernatural artifacts from the world over. I really am like a real life Agent Mulder. Only we're Secret Service, Warehouse Agents, not FBI."

"OK, I'm starting to feel a lot more normal now," Trubel laughed.

"Yeah, me too. So, what else about this whole….Grimm thing? How long has it been going on?"

"Well, if you ask Nick—"

"Nick?"

"Yeah, he kinda took me in. He's another Grimm. And a cop. He has friends who should be able to help. That's where we're going right now, actually."

"Oh, OK. But you were saying?"

"If you ask Nick, it's been going on for like, ever. There's all this ancient stuff about it. The Brothers Grimm recorded all the sorts of tales about the monsters we see, Wessen."

"Wessen?"

"Yeah, that's what the different kinds of creatures call themselves."

"What are these creatures like?"

"They look like normal people, until they get upset. Then they have these awful faces and…ugh. It's awful. But…apparently not all of them are bad. I mean, Nick has some friends who seem like pretty good folks. Definitely the first good Wessen I've met, though."

"Oh, OK. So..it's not something new?"

"Definitely not. Why does that matter, though? I mean, I'm still getting over the fact you're not freaking on me."

"Yeah, sorry, habit. I'm used to asking this sort of question all the time. I have to track down those artifacts, snag bag and tag…since they tend to be the cause of stuff that's well, out of the ordinary like this."


	4. Chapter 4

"Oh, it's OK. Look, we're almost there, anyhow."

Trubel parked the car at the curb.

A loud noise and a blinding flash from the upstairs window shook the still air.

Both startled at the noise.

"What the heck was that?!" Claudia exclaimed.

"Dunno, but it can't be good."

As they got out of the car, they heard screams.

Both raced to the door, Trubel unlocking it quickly.

She scrambled through the kitchen, grabbing a knife from the counter, and ran up the stairs.

Claudia followed shortly, her Tesla drawn.

As they climbed the stairs, they could hear loud voices in the bedroom.

Trubel nodded to Claudia, who gave a thumbs up before kicking the door open.

"What's—" Claudia began, but stopped.

"I don't know!" Juliet shouted, pointing at the mirror on the wall. "Trubel, who's that? And please, somebody get Nick. We have to figure out what the hell's going on!"

Claudia approached the mirror so that she could see into it, stopping short in shock.

"HG?" She asked, dumbfounded.

"Hello Claudia." HG waved, smiling. "I seem to have..well, I'm not quite sure. I seem to be trapped somehow in this mirror. I'm afraid I frightened her a good bit, but…everything's alright otherwise."

Claudia nodded, before turning to Juliet.

"Hi, Sorry about all this… Anyways, what's your name?" Claudia offered, putting her Tesla away, extending a hand to Juliet, who returned the handshake.

"I'm Juliet. And you're…Claudia?"

"Yep," Claudia replied.

"Yeah, sorry about not calling first, she kind of…well, she kind of is…just _appeared_, kind of like that woman," Trubel explained, pointing to the mirror.

"Appeared?" Juliet asked.

"Yeah," both Trubel and Claudia said at once.

"Trust me, I didn't plan on coming to Portland this afternoon, buuuut…life. Nothing's ever dull in my line of work, y'know?"

Juliet made a face, nodding. "Nothing ever is with Nick around, either."

"So…Nick, are you going to call this Nick guy?"

"Yeah, I think I will go do that now," Juliet replied, making her way toward the door. "Trubel, as long as you stay up here with the mirror woman, I think we'll be OK."

As she left the room, Claudia took a seat on the trunk at the end of the bed.

"So, HG, it's been a while," she said.

"Yes, it has," HG replied, nodding.

"Wait, how do you two know each other exactly?" Trubel cut in, stepping toward the mirror to look at HG.

"We've been coworkers for quite some time now," HG replied, watching Trubel as she spoke.

"Yeah, that's the short story," Claudia said.

HG sighed.

"And your name was…?" Trubel asked.

"I'm Helena G. Wells."

"Wait…Claudia was calling you HG… like HG Wells?" Trubel's face conveyed her excitement, she stepped toward the mirror to speak directly to her. "But you can't be, that was so long ago—you aren't related to the novelist, are you?"

"He was my brother. Although I was the one with the ideas, he was the one everyone attributed the books to. It wasn't a time that a woman's work would be taken seriously." HG said, gesturing as she made her point.

"Oh." Trubel bit her lip, as if thinking of something.

"Yeah, but she's pretty awesome, in general, aren't ya?" Claudia said.

"I suppose." HG replied, smiling demurely.

"Oh, come on! You have the coolest machines ever!" Claudia exclaimed, breaking into a grin as she said so.

This earned a small smile from HG.

"Thanks, but perhaps we shouldn't speak of my inventions anymore, since they're rather sensitive information for the team." HG said, sighing.

"Actually, I'm not even sure if there's a warehouse here. There doesn't seem to be an Artie or Myka, Pete, Steve or even Mrs. F here. None of their numbers worked. Believe me, I tried. I landed in the middle of a park before Trubel brought me here. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think, I t_hink,_ we're in a parallel universe." Claudia said, her face expression and tone both conveying her uncertainty.

"Well, it's a reasonable possibility. It's as strange an occurrence as I've seen, certainly."


	5. Chapter 5

"So….you're HG Wells, and you work together what, at a warehouse that…collects artifacts?" Trubel asked.

"I'm sorry, we can't talk about that," HG replied quickly.

"I was saying though, there isn't one here. If there is—" Claudia began, began, but was interrupted by someone bursting in the door.

"Hey!" A man called as he came into the room.

"Nick," Trubel said.

"Juliet called me," Nick explained. "And…who exactly are you? And…" He trailed off as he crossed the room, seeing the woman in the mirror.

"Hello, Nick," HG said, smiling mysteriously.

"Hi…but….I'm sorry, who are you, and what are you doing in my bedroom mirror?" Nick asked, shaking his head and blinking as if he expected to open his eyes again to something else.

"I'm Helena, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not entirely sure, although I have reason to believe it entails some form of interdimensional travel," HG replied.

"Something like that sounds about right," Trubel grinned. "I mean, you should have seen her, she just appeared from nowhere, wham, big flash of light, and she was there. I thought she was a Wessen at first, but when she didn't Wogue I figured she was something else."

"Yeah, definitely not a Wessen," Claudia said.

"Yeah, i can see that. But….who are you exactly? I didn't get your name…or who you are." Nick said, moving to sit down on the trunk at the end of the bed as they spoke.

"Yeah, see, we're partners with the Secret Service," Claudia said, pulling out her badge to show Nick, who took it, examining it.

"So, Agent Claudia Donovan," he said. "But…what is one of you doing in my mirror? The president's nowhere near here, the department would have been informed."

"Yeah, no, see….god this is going to sound strange—" Claudia began, trailing off as she spoke.

"No, really, it's OK," Nick said, shaking his head. "Trust me. I have done weird before. And besides, one of you is sitting in my mirror, so, really, try me."

"OK, see, we're not your regular secret service agents." Claudia said, taking back her badge as Nick offered it.

Nick and Trubel looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

"Well, you don't say," Nick quipped.

"Yeah, but uh, we work in a top secret environment dealing with sensitive items….that have….uh….special properties. And….I think one of them may be responsible for sending us here." Claudia explained, taking a seat on the floora.

"OK, good, we're getting somewhere," Nick said.

"I'm still not comfortable telling you all of this," HG cut in from the mirror.

"But HG, they're not from our world. If—_when_—we get back, they'll never be able to see us again, yeah?" Claudia asked.

"Perhaps, but….universes often diverge in irregular points. Remember how Valda was able to gain access back to our time? Accidents happen, and I'm not so certain that more caution isn't due." HG cautioned.

"Yeah, I mean, I get that," Claudia said, "But how are we supposed to get back there if we don't tell them what happened?"

"I suppose you have a point," HG conceded, sighing.

"Yeah, I think so. And…I mean…you're, what, police?" Claudia asked Nick.

"Yeah, Portland PD," he said, handing her his badge. "Trust me, I have people I wouldn't want you turning me over to either. So, if we can just agree to work together, to get you home I guess, I think it will go a lot easier."

"Agreed," Claudia replied, smiling as she gave his badge back.


	6. Chapter 6

"OK, so, uh, as a Grimm cop, have you ever seen anything like this?" Claudia said, making a face.

"Well, I'm about as familiar with strange things as anybody. I don't know much about magic or, whatever it is that got you here, but I have friends who might be able to help. Just let me make a couple calls real quick…" He trailed off, pulling out his phone, which he dialed on.

"Hey, Monroe? Yeah, we have a situation, of sorts."

"Monroe?" Claudia asked in a low voice, looking at Trubel, who nodded.

"Yeah, so, Monroe's a Blutbad. A Wessen. Him and his wife, Rosalee, run a spice shop, and well, they have a lot of books and information about Wessen and magic and stuff." She explained quickly.

"Oh, OK," Claudia nodded.

"Yeah, so, deal is, we have uh, visitors. They just sort of appeared, no reason, and they aren't Wessen. I really don't know what to make of it, I was hoping you and Rosalee might have some idea… Yeah, OK. We'll be on our way…."

He nodded, turning off his phone.

"OK, so," Nick said, smiling, "I guess you'll get to meet them. Oh, except…" Nick trailed off, squinting at the mirror as if he was trying to decide what to do.

"Except?" HG asked, pressing her fingertips to her chin.

"Well, getting you there might pose an issue," Nick replied, shaking his head as he .

"That's just as well," HG said. "I've waited longer in far more restrictive situations."

"Are you sure? Because if you want someone to stay with you, that's fine," Nick asked.

"No, really, I'll be quite alright for an hour or two," HG returned, settling back where she sat in the mirror. "Go ahead. I don't suppose I'll have moved when you return." She flashed a clever smile.

"Fine. We'll be back soon as we can," Nick said.

"Take your time," HG assented, waving goodbye as Claudia, Trubel and Nick filed away out the door, down the stairs.

In the livingroom, Nick paused briefly to speak to Juliet.

"Hey, so, we're going to the spice shop to see if we can figure anything out there. The woman in the mirror—"

"HG," Claudia supplied.

"—HG, is still up there, if that's alright with you. Unless you want to come too…" Nick offered.

"No, I was going to get coffee with Gina," Juliet shook her head. "And it probably won't hurt to, yknow, get this off my mind."

"Alright. Give you a call if we figure anything out," Nick returned, smiling.

Juliet nodded. "Good luck."

With that, they headed out the door, to a black SUV which Nick unlocked with the remote.

"OK, everybody in," he said, getting in the driver's seat.

Claudia back beside Trubel, buckling in as Nick cranked the car.

As they pulled away, Trubel asked, her tone curious, "So, what was that all about? HG said she had waited longer in…more restricted environments? I mean, what, is getting stuck in mirrors a normal thing in your line of work?"

"Uh, no," Claudia laughed. "Although, Myka got stuck in Alice's mirror once, but…that was due to Alice being, well, Alice, and an accident with the Studio 21 Disco Ball than anything. HG…HG was in a, uh, bit of different circumstances. It's a really long story. She's right though, she'll be fine." Claudia returned awkwardly, realizing that compared to a century of being Bronzed, and months imprisoned in the sphere, the mirror really was nothing.

"I don't pretend to understand ½ of what you just said," Trubel laughed, "But where you work definitely seems interesting."

"Yeah, no, it's pretty awesome," Claudia returned, smiling. "Even if it's about a weird as it can get."

They drove for a few minutes more in silence, Claudia watching out the window as they slowed, approaching a block of older buildings, where Nick parked curbside.


End file.
